Improvement in rotary engines



S. G l BSO N.

Rotary-Engine.

l/fffllf V I I Z ATENT FFIC.

HIRAIII YOUNG, OF YORK, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN ROTARY ENGINES.

Spccificaiion formirg part of Letters Patent No. 165.559, dated July 13,1875; application filed September 23, 1874.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL GIBsoN, of Shrewsbury, in the county of Yorkand in the State of Pennsylvania, haveinvented certain new and usefulImprovements in B0- tary Engine; and do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of referencemarked thereon, making a part of this specification.

The nature of my invention consists in the construction and arrangementof a rotary engine, as will be hereinafter more fully set forth.

In order to enable others skilled in the art to which my inventionappertains to make and use the same, I will now proceed to describe itsconstruction and operation, referring to the annexed drawing, in which-Figure 1 is a longitudinal section through line 90 m, Fig. 2, and Fig. 2a transverse vertical section of my rotary engine.' Figs. 3 and 4 aresections of detached parts thereof. Fig. 5 represents a section takenthrough line 3 y, Fig. 2.

A represents a circular casing of any suitable dimensions, through thecenter of which passes a shaft, I. On this shaft is secured a wheel, B,concentric with the casing. In the wheel B are made two radial groovesor recesses opposite each other, in each of which is inserted a piston,0, open at its inner end, and provided at its outer end with a shoe, 0.In the circumference of the wheel B are made recesses to receive thevalve-caps 0, when the pistons are closed, so as to present a smooth andeven surface on the periphery of the wheel. At the inner end of eachpiston G on one side is a stud, provided-with a friction-roller, b,which projects into a camgroove, a, formed in one of the heads of thecasing A. This groove runs concentric with the wheel and casing forabout -one hundred and eighty degrees, and both ends of this part areturned inward, and then downward in the center, as shown fully inFig. 1. Near the outer end of each piston on one side is a steaminletport, so. In the upper part of the casing A, near one side, is formed acircular valvechest, D, provided with steam-inlet pipe E and exhaustpipeE. The bottom of the valvechest D communicates with two steam-passages,ff, formed in the head of the casing, the ends of said passages openinginto the casing, as represented in Fig. 1. In the valve-chest D isplaced a hollow cylindrical valve, G, closed at both ends, and providedat its outer end with a crank or lever, h, which passes through the endof the chest into the end of the valve, and by means of which the valveis turned to reverse the engine, as hereinafter described. In theexterior surface of the valve G are made elongated indentations orgrooves, forming passagesi i, and under these passages are ports 0 0into the valve. These passages and ports are so arranged that when thevalve is in the position as shown in'Fig. 4, the steam is entirely shutoff from the engine, and when turned to one side the passage i will forma communication for the steam from the inlet-- pipe E to the passage fin the casing, and at the same time the port 0 will communicate with thepassage f, so that the exhaust steam will pass into the valve andthrough an exhaust-port, d, therein to the exhaustpipe E. When the valveis turned in the opposite direction the live steam will enter the casingthrough the passage f, and exhaust through the passagef.

The engine being in the position shown in Fig. 1, the piston U is movedout against the interior circumference of the casing A by the cam-groovea, and stud and roller 1), while the other piston is only partly movedoutward, and the steam now entering through the passage f will enterthis latter piston through the port as, and pack the piston. At the sametime the steam passes around this piston to the one that is entirelyout, (it being prevented from passing the other way by an abutment, H,)and forces the wheel around. As soon as one piston is moved entirely outby the camgroove the steam will act thereon, and the other piston willbe drawn in, exhausting the steam through the passage f. By turning thevalve G the motion of the engine is reversed.

At the top of the wheel B in the casing is an abutment, H, constructedas shown in Figs.

1 and 3. This abutment is held close to the outer periphery of the wheelB by means of one or more set-screws,'m.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desireto secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, with the circular casin g A, having the cam-groove(was described, of the revolving wheel B, arranged within and concentricwith the cylinder, and the hollow pistons G 0, moving out and in in thewheel B, and provided with shoes 0, and studs and rollers b to move.inthe cam-groove a, and with steam-inlets it, all substantially as and forthe purposes herein set forth.

2. The combination of the casing A with passages ff, and cam-groove a.revolving wheel B,'hollow pistons O O, with shoes 0 '13, hollow piston O0, adjustable abutment H, hollow cylindrical valve G, with ports 61 ande e, and passages i i, steam-chest D, and inlet and exhaust pipes E E,all substantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand this7th day of -Angust, 1874.

SAML. GIBSON. \Nitnesses:

H. A. HALL, O. M. ALEXANDER]

